The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a method and apparatus for implementing peer to peer content delivery networks. More specifically, the subject matter pertains to a computer implemented method and apparatus for implementing peer to peer content delivery networks by delaying content delivery to facilitate client use of peer content delivery.
Video streaming allows video content to be delivered to a video player via the Internet. The video content is a video signal generated by a content provider for distribution to video consumers. The video signal may be provided in an uncompressed file format, such as a serial digital interface (SDI) format, or in a compressed format, such as a Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) file format or Transport Stream (TS) file format. The video signal is sent to an encoder which converts the file into a live streaming signal. The live streaming signal is preferably a segmented data stream that may be transmitted using standard Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP) over the internet. The live streaming signal may include multiple streams, where each stream may have a different data rate and/or different resolution.
Two common formats for the live streaming signal include HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) implemented by Apple® and MPEG-Dynamic Adaptive bitrate Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH) implemented, for example, by web browsers such as Chrome®, Microsoft Edge®, and Firefox®. In addition to the segmented data stream, the encoder generates a manifest file. The manifest file contains information for a video player to play the segmented data stream such as the data rate and resolution of each stream and a playlist providing an address from which the video content may be retrieved. Historically, the encoder has generated a single manifest file for each encoded video signal, where the manifest file is distributed along with the streaming signal.
The live streaming signal and the manifest file are stored in one or more Content Delivery Networks (CDN). Each CDN includes a number of edge servers which store the streaming signal and manifest file until requested by a video player. When the streaming signal is provided to multiple CDNs, the CDNs may be in different geographic locations, such as the West Coast, East Coast, or Midwest. Each video player may select a CDN based, among other things, on its geographic proximity in order to reduce transmission latencies.
The video player may be any suitable electronic device to receive the streaming signal such as a desktop computer, a television, a laptop computer, a tablet, or a mobile phone. A user initiates a request to view desired video content on the video player. The video player includes video management software executing on the video player which has knowledge of the address of the CDN and which may provide a list of video content stored on the CDN to the user. After the user has selected a desired video, the video player, in turn, requests that the video content be transmitted from the CDN.
The streaming video content is commonly encrypted prior to transmission. A standard encryption protocol, such as the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) may be used. During encoding of the video signal, the encoder may communicate with a key server to obtain an encryption key for the video content and encrypt the video signal as part of the encoding process. The encoder may include the location of the encryption key in the manifest file for the encoded video content and provide the manifest file to the CDN. The manifest file is delivered to the video player when the video content is requested. The video player reads the location of the encryption key from the manifest file, retrieves the encryption key, and decrypts the video content on the player prior to displaying the video content to the user.
Live encoders or video on demand encoders generate video segment files and upload them to origin servers or content delivery networks. Content delivery networks distribute these video segments to their edge servers when users submit requests to play the segments. However, it is common in live stream that every edge node and every user attempts to obtain the latest video segments often in temporal proximity. This causes a significant load on a content delivery network's edge servers and can create bottlenecks for video segment delivery.
What is needed is a method of implementing peer to peer content delivery networks to reduce the load on the content delivery networks and edge servers. What is further needed is such a method and apparatus for implementing peer to peer content delivery networks without extensive modification to video player software.